11 Mar Prevailing Insect Pests of Arid Fruits and Their Management Options
शुष्क फलों के प्रचलित कीट-पतंग और उनके प्रबंधन के विकल्प Remarkable increase in fruit crops cultivation under hot arid region of western India lead to drastic changes in the pest population dynamics. The fruits such as ber (Ziziphus mauritiana), date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) and bael (Aegle marmelos) are an important fruit crops grown in this area. The productivity is concern, it is low because of harsh environment (high temperature, low precipitation, high PET, high wind velocity), poor soil fertility and salinity. Beside these, the biotic pressure like pest and diseases also play a critical role, which cause significant loss and adds cost of production. Hence, in this article we discussed the present status of insect pests of these fruit trees and their management options and this information would be highly useful to the farmers of this region for successful management of different insect pests. A. Insect pests of Ber 1. Ber butter fly(Tarucus theophrastus Fab.) Symptoms of damage:Larvae feed on sprouting tender shoots, leaves and flower buds. Infested leaves gives whitish look due to chlorophyll feeding finally the leaves remain with long streaks. It damages the leaves upto 25 to 40 per cent. Period of activity: June to September Recommendations: Spray of quinalphos (0.05%) during the sprouting and onset of flowering and repeat the spray at...